The Whole Truth
by Tessie26
Summary: Will Brown's life is pretty normal:his mother is a professor of dance, his father is a pianist, and his little sister is annoying. However, there's something he doesn't know. It's not a lie, but It's not the whole truth, either.
1. Prolouge

AN: Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that this is my second Everwood story, some of you may remember my one-shot "The Everwood Epilouge", which really doesn't have much to do with this story, but you might want to check it out anyway because a few of the characters are the same. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this, as it is a new twist on the pending Ephram-Madison storyline. Happy reading! 

Disclaimer: I own only the original characters, everything else is property of Greg Berlanti

* * *

"Dad, I've gotta get these papers signed for my learner's permit, the deadline's tomorrow." Will Brown reminded his father from the passenger seat of their SUV. 

"Let me guess, I'm being forced to sign something else that's going to be cruical to your future?" Ephram asked, his son gave him a half-smile.

"Don't forget the fifty bucks you have to shell out for the Drivers Ed. course. " The car pulled into the driveway of their house on Pine street, in Everwood, Colorado.

Ephram unlocked the front door, and Will sat down at the table, throwing his bag on the floor beside the chair. "I just need to go over the basic stuff with you, then you can read all the other forms and sign them." Will explained. His father nodded and Will began to read off the paper.

"Yeah, all that stuff's right." Ephram said when he'd finished. "I'll read over the papers with your mother when she gets home."

Will nodded, handing him the forms. "Okay, sure." He began flipping through the pages of hiscalculus book when he realized something. "Oh, wait, I almost forgot to ask, how do you spell "Kellner" ?"

Ephram froze. He was stunned by the sound of that name, so much so that what felt like an eternity for Ephram ticked by before he answered his son. "Um, It's uh, K-E-L-L-N-E-R."

"Alright." Will continued, ignoring his father's odd behavior. "I wanted to make sure I had it right, since I never really use it."

Ephram didn't respond, instead he absentmindedly searched through his briefcase."I'm gonna start on that new jazz peice. If your homework's finished ,I'll take you out driving after dinner."

"Sounds good." The pianist clapped his son affectionately on the shoulder and started down the hall towards his studio.

* * *

It was nearly 5:30 when Amy got home from a late night teaching at Everwood Community Collage. Ever since the dance hall in Denver closed down, she'd moved her course on the history of dance to the more traditional setting of a lecture hall on campus; She smelled the dinner that Will and Ephram had cooked in the air outside the house. Amy was grateful for the short drive home, since it gave her more time to spend with her family. 

"Mommy!" Amy had barely gotten in the door when she was greeted by her eight-year-old daughter, Eva.

"Hi sweetie." Amy hung her coat on the stand by the door and reached down to hug the little girl. "Did you have fun at school today?"

Eva nodded enthusiastically. Amy looked down at her daughter's small hands, and it was evident that she had been using paint at some point. "We had art class today." Eva explained to her mother's questioning smile.

"Uh-Huh. Well, why don't you go get washed up, I'm sure Will and Daddy have everything ready for us." Doing as she was told, Eva headed toward the kitchen to wash her hands.

As if on cue, Ephram walked down the hallway from his studio. "Hey." He put his arms around his wife. "I didn't even hear you come in."

"I'm awful sneaky that way." She said, linking her arms with his. She slowly kissed him on the lips, then settled into his grasp. "Where's Will? I thought he was supposed to help you with dinner."

"Oh, yeah. He did. I think he went up to his room after he set the table." Ephram said, still having thoughts about what had happened that afternoon.

"Alright, well, you wanna call him down? I'm gonna go make sure Eva hasn't flooded the place." Amy began to turn away, and she'd only taken a few paces before Ephram stopped her.

"Amy, this afternoon, Will asked me how to spell "Kellner"." Ephram's voice was nearly down to a whisper, as if they were children telling secrets on the playground.

Amy slowly brought her hand to her mouth, thrown as Ephram had been by the sound of the name. "Do you think he suspects anything?"

Ephram shook his head. "No, It was an innocent question. Besides, It's not him I'm worried about; I haven't heard that name in over ten years, It kind of caughtme off gaurd."

"I know."Amy said emapathetically. "But, like you said, It was an innocent question. I mean, If he'd confronted you, or he'd found a picture or a file of something..." She trailed off, knowing she was reciting the words to a time-worn conversation.

"Mom, Dad, are we going to eat before morning?" Will's voice came in from the kitchen. It was only now that Amy noticed they were in the master bedroom, niether one of them really remembering walking in there, having been so engrossed in the topic at hand.

"We'll be right there!" Ephram called back, then he turned to Amy."Everything's put away, right?"

"Yeah." Amy knew exactly what he meant.

"Mommy, Daddy, Will says dinner's getting cold." Eva leaned her head through the slightly open door, ending her parents' disscussion.

"After Daddy and Will made a whole meal without burning it?" Amy said playfully to her daughter. Ephram held Eva in his arms and the three walked into the kitchen, and sat down at thetable, along with Will ,for dinner.

As they ate, Ephram couldn't shake the feeling that this was not the last the Brown family would be hearing of the name Kellner.

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AN: Alrighty, that's chapter one! I hope you like it so far, since I'm tryng to make it as original as posible. You know what to do, review, review, review! 


	2. Trouble is His Middle Name

AN: Here's chapter two, the first chapter was pretty well recived, so I hope this one will be also.

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"Are you nervous?" Amy asked. She sat beside Will as he drove to the Colorado DMV.

"Not really. I'm more worried about someone finding out that my mother packed a pudding snack in case I get hungry during the test."

Amy chuckled softy. "Hey, It's not every day you get your driver's license. I thought pudding was appropriate for the occasion."

Will smiled, too, thankful that she wouldn't be allowed to accompany him into the testing room. How could he help it? His mother was obbsesive compulsive and she knew it.

"Do you have all the paperwork?" Amy glanced at the Driver's Ed. book on top of the gear shift between them. Crammed with paper'sstuck in betweenevery page, It was easy to see that Will had Ephram's sense of organization.

As the drive continued, the two chatted about nothing impecticular, but that didn't last long.

"Mom?" Amy turned her head towards her son, having just come out of a daydream."I was thinking last night, where'd the name "Kellner" come from?"

Oh no! Amy's mind raced, was this some type of game? What were the chances that now, of all times, Will would question his middle name's origin? Amy was surprised that Will even remembered his middle name, as the last time it had appeared on anything was his birth certificate.Then she rememberd the conversation she'd had with Ephrams two weeks prior; the paperwork. His middle name had to be put on the paperwork.

"It's..." Amy began, she had to think of something fast, but suddenly her mind was blank."an old surname, f-from my side of the family. I really don't remember whose, It was Grandpa Harold's idea, and you know how he is with traditions." Did that sound convincing? Amy wasn't sure; she waited for Will's response.

"Really?" Will said, slowing the car at a turn. "That's cool, I mean, It's too bad we don't know whose name it was."

"Yeah, It's too bad." Amysaid in monotone. Shestared back out the window letting her mind driftaway to a moment almost sixteen years ago.

* * *

"Have you decided what to name him yet?" Amy climbed into Ephram's car, both of them still a few months away from age eighteen.

Ephram Shook his head, placing it in his hands, with both elbows on the steering wheel. "I guess it hasn't hit me yet: getting custody of him means I'm his father. I'll have to take care of him, and, meanwhile, I'm having a hard time even giving him a name. I'm setting myself up for disaster."

"No, Ephram- your not. And, don't expect it to just make sense, because If you do your just gonna make it harder on yourself. Eventually, you'll figure it out, but, just take it one step at a time. Your going to be a great father, and your son's going to be better off with you than he could be with anyone."

"How do you know that? How do you stay here when anyone else would have left?" He turned to face her, their eyes locked.

"I know because I know you. You've stayed with me when I was alone, and I'm not giving you up. You having a son won't change that you're the most important person in my life, and I couldn't stand to be without you." Their eyes stayed locked, and under any other circumstances she would have kissed him, but she didn't. He didn't need physical affection, he only needed her.

"I can't promise you that my life's going to go how I planned it to a year ago, Amy. I can't even promise you that I'll wake up every day with the spirit to keep this going; but I'll love you, I can promise that." A silent understanding was between them, and now it was Ephram who brushed his lips against Amy's, niether of the wanting to let go of the other.

When the embrace finally ended, Ephram broke the scilence."I'm going to give him Madison's last name as a middle name."

Amy looked at him questioningly, after all that had happened, she didn't understand why Ephram would want his son to have any type of connection to Madison.

"If he ever needs to find her for some reason, If something ever happens and I'm not around, I want him to at least have a clue as to what her name is." After his explanation, Amy continued to look at him questioningly.

"Are you sure? Because, If he ever needs to find her, he could always ask me, or your Dad, or he could look at the files." Amy knew that it was Ephram's choice to make, but she couldn't help thinking that it was a little drastic.

"I can't do that to him. I can't do it because I don't want him to have to go through thousands of papers just to find out what his mother's name is. He's been through enough of that. And I can't depend on you, or my Dad, or on anyone for that matter;being his father means It'll be him and me, and I don't know where I'm gonna be in five years, I don't even know where I'll be in a month. I can't do that because, If he ever needs to know, I don't know who'll be here to tell him."

Amy sat back, pressing herself into the cushions of the seat, processing this. "I understand." They were both quiet again for another few seconds, but there was something more Amy needed to say. "Ephram, you can always depend on me. Know that.Whatever happens between us as a couple, you can still depend on me."

That was the last of the conversation, and Ephram pulled the old car out of the parking lot next to the court house.

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Chapter two! Please review! Thanks, Tessie:) 


	3. In the Face of Regret

AN: Alrighty, here's chapter three. I want to apologize if my chapters look a bit disheaved. I'm sure It's just a technical glitch, because I'm having problems with spacing, but I'll try to fix it ASAP.

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Amy and Ephram stood in their bedroom that evening, not long after Will and Amy had returned from Denver. Ephram was undoing his tie, while Amy took off all her jewelry.

"So, when he passed the road test, was there jumping and screaming or did he just pass out?" Ephram sarcastically asked his wife.

"Actually, he was really calm, up until I told him he could drive home, then thescreaming started." Amy smiled. Even after being married for fourteen years, she and Ephram still bantered to each other.

"Speaking of driving" Ephram said, crossing the room toward his wife. "I was thinking that once Will's license comes in the mail, we can send him and Eva out for pizza, maybe, four, five, times a week. It'd work out perfectly, we'd have time alone, they'd have pizza." He put his arms around Amy's neck, and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Ephram-" Amy began, but he covered her mouth with a kiss before she could finish. "Ephram, I've gotta tell you something."

Noticing the tone of urgency in Amy's voice, Ephram stopped and fixed his attention on his wife.

"Today, on the way to Denver, Will asked me where the name "Kellner" came from." The information hit Ephram like a ton of bricks.

"What did you tell him?" A thousand thoughts ran through Ephram's head. He was not mad at Amy, but at himself. He'd dug himself and his son into a very deep hole.

"I lied. I told him it was an old family name." She said, sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.

"He believed it?"

"It seemed like it."

"Damn it!" Ephram slammed his fist down on the dresser. "I wish I'd never given him a middle name."

"Ephram, don't say that. He doesn't know anything, he'll probably never ask about it again." She put her hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"He asked twice. What if he keeps thinking about it? After all these years, I can't believe this is happening now." Ephram pulled away from Amy's touch. Again, not out of anger at her, but because he felt that he didn't deserve sympathy for this kind of mistake.

Amy sensed this, but she felt useless."You can't change what she did, Ephram. You're the good guy in this. You made the right choice."

The pianist sat on the arm of the chair, next to his wife. "That's the thing, I don't always feel like I did." This was true, though Ephram struggled to remember the last time he'd regretted his choice.

* * *

Ephram sat with his father, as well as Amy, in the courtroom. It had only been a few days since the conversation in the car, and now it was time for the Judge's final decision.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Edward J. Sweetman." The bailiff commanded, and all in the room did so as the Judge entered.

"In case of Ephram Andrew Brown versus the state of Colorado, I have decided to rule in favor of the plaintiff, Ephram Brown.Mr. Brown, would you please approach the bench at this time with your parent or guardian."

Ephram and Andy rose from their seats, leaving Amy to watch from the sidelines. She lightly squeezed Ephram's hand before he went, wishing him good luck.

Up at the bench, the Judge spoke to Ephram. "Mr. Brown, I'm going to rule in your favor and award you full custody of your son." The young man's heart seems to skip a beat, and not just for joy, but also for fear of what the Judge was going to say next."On one condition: I'm going to mandate that you and your son meet with a social worker once a month until you reach the age of eighteen. It is my hope that you will be able to provide a loving and stable home for your son, despite the fact that you are considered a minor by the courts. Now, I'll legally change the birth certificate if you'll present me with the name you've chosen for your son."

Ephram quickly glanced around the court room, and his eyes fell on the couple that were supposed to have adopted his son, Thomas and Janet Miller. Mrs. Miller didn't notice Ephram's glance, which was good because she looked like a nervous wreck as it was. It was then that Ephram began to feel bad for them. They hadn't done anything wrong, all they wanted was a child, and Ephram grimaced at the thought of their reactions when the adoption agency told them that he wanted custody of the baby. He was now having second thoughts: The Millers seemed like good people and they could give his son a real family. Was it right of him to take hisbaby away from theonly people he'd known, aside from Ephram's court-appointed weekly visits, since he was born?

"Mr. Brown, have you chosen a name for your son or not?" Judge Sweetman's slightly annoyed voice brought Ephram out of his daydream.

Ephram cleared his throat. "Willingham Kellner Brown." The Judge nodded and wrote the name down on the piece of paper.

"Your son is with a social worker in the children's holding room down the hall, show the bailiff outside the room those papers and you'll be allowed to take him home. Good Luck to all of you." He said to Ephram and his father.

"Thank You." Ephram replied, and passing The Millers as they went, he, Amy, and Andy left the court room.

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Thanks for reading, please review! 


	4. A Young Wife

AN:Here's chapter four. I hope everyone continues to read!

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"Daddy, why can't I go to practice with you?" Eva Brown asked, tugging on the end of her father's dress shirt. 

Ephram knelt down to his daughter, looking into her green-gray eyes, the eyes she had gotten from him. "Because if you go, then Mommy won't have anyone to help her bake those chocolate brownies."

"But, Will gets to go." The little girl's face faded into a sad frown. Ephram had a practice session with the Colorado symphony that day, and he often brought Will along to listen. Eva loved to go as well, but she got restless very easily, being only eight. Ephram would've liked to take her, be he couldn't risk the orchestra losing practice time just because Eva was bored. While he hated to be unfair, he couldn't punish the symphony, either.

There was only one way to fix this now. "Eva, if you stay home with your mother, and Will comes with me, then who gets to lick the bowl by themselves?" He whispered into her ear, pretending that he was telling her something that only the two of them were allowed to know.

"Oh, I get it." The smiled returned, and now there was only one thing on Eva's mind. "Are you leaving soon? I want to start making the brownies."

"As soon as Will gets ready, then we'll go." He told her.

"I'm gonna go tell him to hurry." Ephram smiled, andafter she gave her father a hug, Eva was up the stairs in the direction of her older brother's room.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to come into my room without knocking first!" Ephram heard Will shout, and just then Amy entered the room.

"Did you tell her to rush Will along?" She asked, holding one of her dessert recipe books.

"Actually, I didn't have to. She did that on her own, I think I must be rubbing off on her." Ephram said, he noticed then that both their faces were solemn.

"Are you going to tell him?" Amy asked. They both knew that today's trip had a hidden agenda, as it would be the perfect time for Ephram to tell Will the truth.

Ephram nodded. "Hopefully I'll maintain the ability to speak."

"Don't worry, Ephram. It's better this way. It's better that he knows." They'd decided a few days ago that Ephram should be the one to tell Will everything. He'd wanted Amy to be there, but she declined. This was between Ephram and Will.

"Okay, we can make the brownies now!" Eva announced, half-pulling Will down the staircase (much to his displeasure).

The four Browns said their respective goodbyes, and Amy gave Ephram one final kiss of secretive encouragement.

Afterward, Eva and Amy went into the kitchen to start baking.

"Oh, wait." Amy said as Eva was about to put the electric mixer into the batter. "Let me move this out of the way, I don't want any batter to end up on it." She was referring to the wedding picture that was sitting on the counter. The frame had broken yesterday, and Ephram had put it on the counter to dry.

"Is that when you and Daddy got married?" Eva asked, now in batter up to her elbows.

"Uh-Huh. That picture was taken in front of Grandma and Grandpa Abbott's house." The dancer said.

"Was I there?" The little girl questioned.

Amy shook her head. "No, you couldn't have been, sweetie. This was a long time ago." Amy smiled, remembering the events leading up to the photo.

* * *

"Dude, I still don't get it. Isn't "Willingham" kind of, you know, . . . _old_?" A nearly twenty-one-year-old Bright asked his sister as they walked into the Abbott home.

"I told you Bright, It's Jewish tradition.You name your kids after a dead family member or friend." Amy said. They had just gotten back from the Brown house, where Bright had seen Will for the first time.

"So, out of all the dead people he knows, Ephram had to choose his ancient piano teacher?" Amy sighed. She gave up. Bright was referring to the fact that Ephram's former piano teacher, Willingham Cleveland, had died of cancer only a few months prior, and Ephram had named Will in his honor.

"Bright, I don't have time to explain the whole thing. I've gotta talk to Dad about something."

"Whatever, Songbob's coming on in a few minutes anyway." Bright said, shrugging. He went into the living room while Amy went to find her father.

"Dad?" She called, sticking her head through the door of her father's home office.

"How is it that neither you nor your brother has ever picked up the common courtesy of knocking before you enter a room?" Dr. Abbott wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure. It's probably genetic." Amy replied, walking into the room and sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Is there something you needed?" He asked her over the rims of his reading glasses.

"I wanted to tell you something." Suddenly she wished she hadn't rejected Ephrams' offer to be with her when she talked to her father. But no, It was better she talk to him alone.

"Yes?" Dr. Abbott looked up when his daughter's sentence trailed off.

It was now or never. "Ephram and I want to get married."

The doctor nearly spit out the sip of coffee he had just taken. Had he heard correctly? Had his daughter just told him she wanted to get married?

"Amy, you can just-" Dr. Abbott started to say, but Amy's words ran into his.

"We know this is kind of sudden, but we decided It'd be easier to get married now rather than later."

"Easier for _whom_ exactly? And, Amy you're only nineteen years old, you have your whole life to get married!"

"Dad, Will's going to be two in a few months!" Amy shouted "If we don't get married now, Will might remember that I'm-"

"That you aren't his mother." Dr. Abbott finished for her. "Is that what the two of you want to do? Tell Ephram's son that you're his mother?"

"You don't understand." She responded, her anger rising. "We don't want him to grow up thinking that Madison didn't want him!"

"Do you mean "We" or, do you mean "Ephram"?" Her father prodded.

She wanted to smack him. "How dare you think that Ephram would force me into this! He loves me, and I love him. And If loving him means loving his son, too, then that's what I'll do."

"Amy Nicole, you gave up some of the best schools in the country to stay in Everwood with Ephram, and now you want to give up your youth to be his wife? Harold was gripping his coffee cup so hard that it was nearly cracking in his hand.

The blonde stared holes into her father's forehead. "Yes."

"You both really think It's wise to lie to him? Would it really be so bad if you and Ephram waited for a few years to get married and he knew that his biological mother wasn't there?" Harold asked, slamming his coffee mug onto the desk.

The tears were beginning to fall from her eyes now. "What is Ephram supposed to tell him? That Madison gave Will up for adoption without even telling him that he was a father? How do you think a kid would feel if they knew that their own mother tried to keep them a secret?"

"And, what if, in a few months, you should decide that you're bored being a wife and a mother before your even twenty years old? How do you think young Will would feel if Ephram had to explain that _two_ women had walked out on him?"

"I would never walk out on him. I love him, Dad, I want to marry him." Amy's voice was cold. She had nothing left to say.

Harold Abbott was at a loss, and he realized that the wedding would probably happen with or without his blessing. "Fine. But, If your going to get married, your going to do it correctly. Your mother and I both have reputations in this town, and I won't have my only daughter getting married in some twenty-four hour wedding chapel."

Amy nodded, knowing that if they were to end this peacefully, she would have to settle on him terms."Do you want to tell Mom, or should I?"

"I think it would be best to have a family meeting.No doubt you mother will need more than one person to catch her when she faints." Harold stated. "Has Ephram told Dr. Brown anything?"

"He's going to tell him tonight." Amy said, and she turned to exit the office.

"Amy." Dr. Abbott called as she reached the threshold. "I love you, too. Remember that."

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Please Review:)-Tessie 


	5. Bearer of Good News

Ephram and Will walked into the Colorado symphony's practice hall. Ephram wasn't doing so well as far as telling Will the truth. Despite this, he tried to maintain a normal disposition, fearing that anything less would lead Will to believe he'd done something wrong. 

"Ephram Brown." Ephram turned around to see one of the symphony members, an elderly man, coming toward he and Will.

"Ron. It's been a long time." Ephram shook the man's hand. It was Ronald Turner, the second chair violinist. Ron had been with the orchestra for quite a while when he had left to pursue a contract in the pit orchestra for Broadway. He was just now returning to the symphony for his first practice with them in nearly eight years.

"How's everyone been?" Ron asked. He and Ephram and Will took the seats that would later be used for the trombone players.

"Everyone's great." Ephram replied. "Amy and I still live in Everwood with the kids. Speaking of which, you remember my son, Will."

"Will Brown?" Ron took off his glasses, pretending to clean them. "Well, isn't that something? How much older he's gotten, I guess I underestimated how long I'd been away."

Ephram laughed, watching Will shake hands with Ron, a confused look on his face. Will had been only eight years old when Ron last saw him.

"It's hard to believe how long It's been. If I recall correctly, you and Amy had just had a daughter when I left. I remember everybody pitching in to buy a gift."

"Yeah. Eva's eight now, and we can't figure out where her "off" switch is." Ephram pulled a wallet-sized school picture of his daughter out of his wallet, handing it to the older man.

"She's got the best of both worlds, I'd say." Ron commented as he looked at the picture. "I can see she and your son share a few of the same features, too. "

Ephram nodded politely, placing the photo back into his wallet.

"Though, at the same time" Ron continued. "they don't look alike at all. Funny how things turn out sometimes."

Ephram nodded in agreement, but he knew there was a reason for his children's physical differences.

_

* * *

_

_Paging Doctor Henry Conti, Doctor Conti to trauma one._

Ephram Brown waited outside the doors to Denver Hospital's maternity ward. Though the hospital was busy around him, Ephram was a bit nervous. Just as he was getting a coffee from the lounge, someone called his name.

"Ephram! We've been looking all over for you!" Delia, a legal adult at age eighteen, hurried toward her older brother with Bright Abbott in tow.

"What happened? I thought you said on the phone that you'd meet us in the waiting room." Bright asked.

"Sorry, I didn't want to get too far away from Amy's room in case she needed something." He explained.

"Well, everyone's in the waiting room. When you get the chance, come down and give us an update, everybody wants to know what you named her." His sister told him. Upon looking at her, he was reminded that their mother's physical features were apparent when she smiled.

"Yeah, all right, I'm just gonna ask If Amy wants anything from the cafeteria, then I'll come get you guys." With that, the young pianist walked back through the double doors in the direction of his wife's room.

Making his way down the white-washed halls, Epharm pondered the impact this day would have on his life. He and Amy had a daughter. It hadn't really hit him yet, but he knew that both he and Amy were twenty-four years old, and they had seen a lifetime of events in a very short time. To some, the whole thing looked like the perfect ending to a fairytale: Two high school sweethearts marry, finish college, and have two beautiful children before they hit thirty, though Ephram wouldn't exactly have called it a fairytale.

Nevertheless, Ephram was no less than thrilled about the fact that he now had a son _and_ a daughter. The timing was perfect. The two had been married for five years, and had been out of college for three. Will had just turned eight, and Ephram and Amy had decided that they wanted at least one more child, more specifically, a daughter to even things out with. And so, shortly after Valentine's Day of 2013, the couple announced that another child, who would be cause for great celebration for both families, would be adding another piece to the family's puzzle.

Now, the young man passed the large glass window, framing the nursery. Inside of which was his daughter. It took him only seconds to locate the newborn that was his. His eyes scanned the pink index card the bottom corner of the plastic crib.

_**Baby Girl **_

_**Brown, Evangelina Rose**_

_**6 Ibs. 11 Oz. 21 In.**_

Ephram nearly chuckled in spite of himself, thinking of how nervous he'd be during the baby's birth. It had been his first time experiencing everything, as he hadn't been present when Will was born. Ironically, Amy was as calm as a cucumber the entire time. In the true fashion of Everwoodians, It had taken everyone else a few hours to cancel whatever was on their daily agenda and get to the hospital, so Ephram didn't have much moral support for a while.

Upon naming their new little girl, they'd chosen "Rose" as a middle name, after Amy's mother, yet couldn't seem to agree on a first name. As a last attempt, Amy had suggested "Evangelina", saying that it meant 'bearer of good news'. Of course, Ephram had asked, other than the obvious joy of having a new child, what the good news was. To which Amy responded "We made it. That's the good news." Ephram consented to the name, as long as Amy promised that they could call her "Eva" for short, so that she wouldn't sound like a nun.

Eva was beautiful, he realized, as stared through the glass. She had Amy's blonde hair, and his own blue-green eyes. The newborn had his nose, which was apparent, but she was very delicate boned, like her mother. It wouldn't be so hard to pass Eva and Will off as full-fledged brother and sister, which both Amy and Ephram were grateful for. Will had his father's nose as well, and his brown eyes, which had come from Madison, could easily be attributed to Amy. This could also be said for his blonde hair, since it was a sandy color, the result of some of Ephram's chocolate brown hair mixed with blonde. Other than that, Will seemed to have the same body-structure Ephram had as a boy, which included Julia Brown's ears.

It was very lucky for everyone involved that Madison and Amy had had such similar features: Both had blonde hair and brown eyes, and both had been about the height and weight, and if you weren't looking for specific differences, it would be very hard to tell that Willingham Brown was not Amy's son.

Of course, none of this had been know until Eva was born, as a matter in fact, Ephram had spent a lot of time worrying that the new baby would end up looking like someone on Amy's side of the family, making it impossible for the two half-siblings to look alike, in which case the only thing to do would have been to say that some brothers and sisters simply _don't _look alike. In the end, Ephram breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his new daughter, and knew that they had given the baby an appropriate name, as she was a bearer of good news. He told himself this as he looked once more at what was to be the only biological child of both Ephram Brown and Amy Abbott-Brown, and continued down the hallway to Amy's room.

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AN: I hope everyone enjoyed that, It took me while to write, so please review! -:)Tessie 


	6. Nothing but the Truth

AN: Sorry for the delay, but here's chapter six.

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They'd only been in the car for a few minutes when Ephram realized that it was now or never. He had to tell Will today, or the truth might never come out; His only problem was that he didn't know how to say it. Then again, if there were an easy way to give his son this information, Ephram never would've kept the secret in the first place.

He slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road. "Will, listen, there's something I've gotta tell you."

Will shifted postions in the seat next to Ephram, staring expectantly at him with those almond-brown eyes. Madison's eyes.

"I guess I should start from the beginning." Ephram said, his throat getting dry. "It's about your mother." He stopped suddenly and sighed heavily, pushing his hand through his hair. "I should've had this conversation with you a long time ago."

"Dad, Mom isn't sick or something, is she?" Will asked, alarmed.

"No, Amy's fine, that's not what I meant." The pianist reasurred his son. He was trying so hard to get the words out.

Will was puzzled. What was his father talking about? Why had he just referred to his wife by her first name? He never did that when talking about her to he or Eva.

"What's going on?" Will demanded. His father was never at a loss for words like this, he knew there was something he wasn't being told.

"Son, your mother, I'm not exactly sure where she is." Ephram's vision blurred for a second after the words left his mouth. He waited for his son's reaction.

"What do you mean you don't know where she is? She's at home with Eva like she was when we left." Will was worried, was his father having a mental breakdown or something?

"I know where Amy is." The older Brown gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. "I'm talking about your mother."

His son looked at him in realization and fear.

"Are you telling me that I'm adopted?" The sixteen-year-old choked out.

"No Will. I'm telling you that Amy Brown isn't your mother." Ephram winced, as though in pain, and Will's faced drained of color at his father's statement.

"What the hell-" Will started to say, but Ephram cut him off.

"I want you to understand why I never told you the truth. So I'm going to tell you everything, from the beginning."

The young man expected a story similar to the one he'd been told since he was little: He'd noticed when he was about ten that his parents were younger than most of his friends' parents by a considerable amount. When he'd asked his mother and father about it, they'd explained that he was born when they were only seventeen years old. They'd told him how they'd both managed to finish high school, despite having to take shifts to care for their newborn son. And finally, the then-small boy was told how hard his parents had worked to graduate from Colorado State University; His father with a degree in concert piano, and his mother with a degree in the history of dance. At least, that's what he was lead to believe. So, as his father spoke he listened on in complete scilence.

"When I was about your age, I fell in love for the first time." Ephram began, his voice cracking slightly at the painful memories. "Don't get me wrong, becuase I'd fallen in love with Amy long before I met your mother, but this was the first time that anyone ever loved me back. She was your Aunt Delia's babysitter, and she was four years older than I was." A visible lump formed in his throat now, but he continued. "I was on a high, I couldn't get her out of my head. No matter what I was doing I was thinking about her. We were together for a few months, but,like we both expected it to, it ended. There wasn't any peticular reason, but we were both young, and there was nothing between us anymore."

"So, what happend?" Will asked, his voice hollow and dry.

Ephram almost shrugged, because sometimes he himself didn't know the answer to that question. "We went our seperate ways. She resigned as Aunt Delia's babysitter, I started dating Amy, and I didn't see her again for almost a year."

"How'd you find out about me?" His son interupptted, his face was a strange white color now.

"I was in New York for a Julliard audition, and I ran into her."

"_You_ auditioned for Julliard?" Will's eyes were wide for a second. He'd never known that his father even applied to an out-of-state college, much less somewhere like Julliard.

Ephram nodded sullenly. "At one time, I thought I had a pretty good chance at getting in, too. I guess it wasn't in the cards for me though, because the morning of the audition, I met with your mother for coffee."

"She had me with her?" Will assumed.

"No, she didn't. It turned out that the reason she wanted to meet with me was to tell me that she'd had you, and she'd put you up for adoption." He swollowed hard. "She put 'unknown father' on the adoption papers, and It took me months of clearing my head and going through the courts to get custody of you."

"Why the freak did she do that? Didn't she care that I'd never know my own parents?" The tears fell freely out of Will's eyes as he screamed in anger.

"Try to calm down." Ephram said, handing Will his handkericf. "I know how you feel, I felt the same way when I found out." He paused for a second, a bit of his old hurt resurfacing. "There's a reason she didn't tell me."

His attention refocused, Will took in the rest of the story.

"When she found out she was pregnant, she went to Grandpa Andy for help. At the time, I was doing really well with my music, and your Grandfather didn't want anything to get in the way of that. So, when your Mom came into his office, he asked her not to tell me about you. He promised to pay for anything she needed if she'd leave Everwood forever."

"Grandpa?" The younger Brown said in shock. Ephram knew that his son and his father were very close, and though he didn't wish to compromise that, he couldn't keep anything more from Will, because he knew it would only end badly.

"Will, I know how this whole thing sounds, but I don't want you to blame your grandfather for any of this. I didn't realize it then, but I know now that he only wanted to protect me, just like I wanted to protect you when I told you Amy was your mother."

"I don't give a shit." Will spit. "How could you lie to me all these years? Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"I really don't know why." Ephram repiled. "I guess because I was seventeen years old, and all I cared about was making sure my son was okay. I didn't want you to think you weren't wanted, Will. I mean, at first, I really didn't know what I was doing. I'd just graduated high school, I didn't have any money except for my college fund, and I was mad as all hell at my father. But that changed the first time I held you. Right there, I made a promise that I would do anything to make sure you didn't have to feel the pain from this whole situation."

"After that you and-" He stopped in fear of mentioning Amy, because he was unsure, in light of this new information, of what to call her. "you just got married?"

Ephram shook his head."Amy and I broke up for a few months after I found out about you. We both needed time to think about what we wanted. She didn't know if she wanted to be a mother figure so young, and I didn't know how much I could andle at once. After a while, we decided that we could make everything work if we tried, and she really helped when I was going through the court process. She helped take care of you, and she taught me a lot of the things she'd learned from babysitting. From the start she did everything she could for us. And she always loved you, just as much as I did. Remember that Will, she's not your biological mother, but she's your Mom. She always has been. By the time we were ninteen, we'd both agree to it: We'd get married and just tell you that she was your mother. You weren't even two yet, so you didn't really understand much of it, but Amy legally adopted you shortly later, and, just like that, you were her son.

"My real Mother, you-you said you don't know where she is?" Will asked when his Dad had been quiet for a few seconds.

The pianist looked at his son sadly. "I'm sorry, but I wouldn't even know where to start looking. I talked to her once more after that day in New York, to tell her that I planned to get custody of you. She wished me good luck, and after that I guess she moved becuase I couldn't reach her by that number again. I couldn't find her, and I don't think I ever really tried to. She needed to move on; after everything that'd happend, I guess she wanted a normal life again, not that I blame her. It was hard for her to do what she did. It may not seem like it, but I know it was, son. And I know she loved you, if she hadn't I don't think she would've ever had the courage to get through it all."

It was a lot to take in, that was evident on Will Brown's face. But, there was one thing more he had to know.

"What was her name?"

"Her name was Madison. Madison Kellner."

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	7. Forgiveness

AN: Sorry for the delay, but there was a death in my family so it slowed my writing a bit. Here's the new chapter!_

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_Riiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnggggg_

The Brown's telephone rang just as Amy and Eva were pouring the brownie batter into a pan.

"I wanna get it!" Eva shouted, running toward the opposite side of the kitchen where the phone was mounted on the wall.

"Eva, wait a second, you still have brownie mix all over your hands!" Amy called after her. Amy's long legs took two steps for every one of Eva's, and she managed to grab her daughter by the wrist.

"Mommy, they're gonna hang up!" Eva protested as her mother forced her to stand still while she wiped the small hands with a dish towel. As she did so, Amy took the phone off its cradle and handed it to Eva.

"Hello?" The little girl waited a few seconds for the caller's response, and then shrieked with excitement. "Grandpa Andy! I'm fine, how are you? Oh, she's right here. " Eva took the phone away from her ear and handed it to her mother. "Grandpa wants to talk to you."

"Hey, Dr. Brown." It was funny, she and Ephram had been married for fourteen years, and yet, Amy had never been able to bring herself to call Andy by his first name. Ephram experienced the same thing with her father, so she supposed that some things would just never change.

"Good morning, Amy." Andy said cheerfully. "I'd been wondering what you were up to. Did Ephram leave the kids home with you?"

"Only Eva. He decided to take Will along to listen in on the practice. So, naturally, we girls are making brownies." Amy answered, sliding the brownie pan into the oven as she spoke.

"Sounds like fun. Ephram never did understand the value of a good brownie." He paused to hear her laugh.

"You're right about that. I'm pretty sure he was always partial to crumb cake."

Andy chuckled in response."Anyhow, I was just calling to see if you and Ephram and the kids wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow. Nina's making lasagna, and there's always too much for just she and I."

"Why not? We're free tomorrow night. Besides, I think after tonight we could probably all use some of Nina's lasagna." She dreaded having to tell him this, but Ephram had asked her to call him about it anyway.

Andy was confused for a second at the sudden change in her tone. "Why's that?"

"Dr. Brown, Ephram decided to tell Will about Madison. That's why he took him to Denver today. He wanted to be alone with him so he wouldn't be interrupted." She waited a few seconds, but he wasn't responding.

"Dr. Brown? Are you still there?"

"I'm still here." He confirmed, but he sounded as if someone had given him a sedative. "Why now? Did he find something? Was he asking questions?"

"He asked Ephram about his middle name, and then he started asking where it came from-" She sighed in frustration. "Ephram thought it would bebetter to let him know the truth."

"Do you know if he's said anything about...?" He trailed off suddenly, and Amy swore that she could hear a slight catch in his voice.

"I don't know if he said anything about your part in it. But you've got to understand. It wasn't fair to do this to him anymore, Ephram knew that."

"I know. And I know it's not right of me to hope that Will won't be angry at me. I just don't want this to end up like what happened with Ephram and I when he was young. I don't want to hurt him." Andy ran his hand through his now-greying hair, much the same way Ephram did when he was nervous.

"I know you don't, and Ephram doesn't either, but it's a risk. If he doesn't take this well then we can only hope that one day he'll forgive us." She tried to be sympathetic, even though she herself felt guilty.

The doctor winced when she included herself in the situation. "Amy, he hasn't got any reason to hold this against you. You were only trying to be supportive."

"No, Dr. Brown. I had just as much of part in this as you and Ephram did, and I choose to go along with everything. But it doesn't matter now. What's done is done and we can't keep worrying about what's going to come out of it." She rarely spoke to her father-in-law that way, for she had a great respect for him, but she needed to tell him that.

"You're right, Amy" A thought came to him then. "You're a very smart woman. As a matter fact, you almost remind me of Julia, in some respects."

"You've told me that once before." She said. It took a while for her to place the conversation, and suddenly the memories came flooding back to her.

* * *

Amy quietly closed the door that lead from the garage to the Brown's living room, hoping that her footsteps wouldn't wake the baby. As she crossed the living room into the kitchen, she found Andy standing near the sink, running tap water into a glass. 

"It's late." He commented, turning to face her. "I figured that the three of you would be asleep by now."

"Ephram's working the night shift, and Will was hungry, I just put him back down a few minutes ago." It had been almost two months since she and Ephram had gotten married. They lived most of the time in the Brown's garage, which had been renovated into three rooms. One for she and Ephram, one for Will, and a small living room. However, the garage was too small to have added a bathroom or a kitchen, and (much to Ephram's displeasure) they had to use the kitchen and bathroom in the main house.

"Oh." He nodded, clearly a bit unsure of how to make conversation. Since Amy and Ephram had married, she had been working at regaining at least some peace between the father and son. It wasn't easy, though. For Ephram, pure bliss would be equivalent to the day that he and Amy had saved enough money for an apartment of their own. The only time that Ephram and Dr. Brown talked was when they were forced to, all the while Amy tried to maintain common ground.

"I just wanted to brush my teeth before I went to bed." She explained, indicating the toothbrush in her hand. "Anyway, I'd better hurry. I have class in the morning, so I've got to get some sleep."

"Yeah, you should probably get to bed." He echoed, then he picked up his glass and turned toward the stairwell.

She watched him take a few steps. This was hard. And not just for her, but for all of them. She and Ephram were both juggling classes as second year students at Colorado State University, part time jobs (she was a waitress at Gino Chang's and he was a cashier at Everwood's supermarket), and shifts taking care of and spending time with a fifteen-month-old Will; Ephram would never accept any of his father's offers to watch the baby while he and Amy went out for an evening, and Andy only ever saw his grandson was when he was brought to a doctor's appointment, or on the rare occasion when Ephram was at work and Amy brought Will into the main house out of sheer pity for her father-in-law.

Amy knew that her new husband's line of thinking was as such: If Andy didn't want him to know about his son in the first place, then why should he get to spend any time with the baby now that Ephram had custody? It hurt him, but from Amy's standpoint, there was nothing she could do but wait for Ephram to forgive his father.

"Dr. Brown." He stopped halfway up the staircase. "I know how hard this is, but he'll come around. You're still his father, and he knows how sorry you are about this. It's just, he needs time heal."

"I know he does. But more than I hate the guilt I feel from all this, I hate to see him hurt. I always have. Except, up until all this happened, I could never tell when he was hurt from when he just plain hated me. He has every right to keep me from seeing Will, and truth be told, this was the least I expected him to do."

She smiled sadly in agreement. "I remember, when Bright and I were little, we'd get into fights, and I'd stay mad at him for hours. He'd get really upset about it, andmy grandfather used to tell him: ' When you chop down a tree, you can't expect it to be fully grown again by the next day. It returns to its original height in its own time.' I never really understood what that meant, until now. "

He couldn't ask for more than that. "Amy, I'm glad you and Ephram decided to get married. Even if he never forgives me, at least I know he'll be happy. You're an intelligent young lady, and what you've told me just now, it reminded me of the kinds of things my wife used to say."

"Thank You, Dr. Brown." She smiled again andturned away, having suddenly remembered how late it was.

"Good Night, Amy."

"Good Night." She continued her path to the bathroom, knowing that things between Ephram and his father would be all right. Someday, they'd be all right.

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Yes, that's the new chapter. Hope you enjoyed, please review :) Tessie 


	8. The Explosive Dinner

AN: Sorry for the long wait, but now that school is out I'll have more time for writing. Thanks and enjoy the chapter!

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The family stood on the from porch of Dr. Brown and Nina's house, waiting for someone to answer the door. The smell of Nina's cooking floated in the air outside the home, but it couldn't mask the scent of anger which clung to Willingham Brown. 

Ephram glanced over at his son to notice that he was staring straight ahead, and not making eye contact with anyone, much the same way as he had been since they'd gotten back from the fateful trip to Denver the evening before. In the few seconds between entering the house, and locking himself in his room for the night, he'd barely been able to look at Amy, but most likely out of sadness rather than anger, Ephram knew.

About thirty seconds passed before Nina came to the door.

"Hi, everyone!" She said cheerfully, hugging each of them, seemingly unaware of Will's rigid state. "Delia's already here, we were just about to sit down."

After greeting Dr. Brown, they followed Nina into the kitchen where the table was set beautifully.

"Nina, you didn't have to do all this!" Amy exclaimed, but Nina was quick to counter her.

"What other reason have I got to break out the crystal? Besides, Sam's visiting his Dad in Vail this week, so there's no risk of breaking it."

As they laughed, Delia entered the room, a perfect vision of her mother at age twenty seven. She'd gone to Sarah Lawrence college, only to return to Colorado and join the Denver police force. Two years after graduation, she met and married a young Marine named David Hamilton. David was currently stationed somewhere in Japan, where he was a communications officer. Delia spent her time between visits to Everwood, and her home in Denver, where she raised theirten-month-old daughter, Juliana.

"What's everyone laughing at?" Placing the baby in a highchair, she looked at the table, as if something was out of place. "Did Dad try to demonstrate a frontal lobe dissection on the salad again?"

* * *

"...And I said to him, 'Well, if that's not a brain tumor, then someone really did stick a tomato in his ear!" 

The table jeered at one of Andy's corny stories, and when they were quiet again, he turned the subject towards his grandchildren.

"Eva, are you looking foward to your Dad's next concert?"

"Uh-Huh." The small blonde nodded enthusiastically while trying to fold her napkin into a triangle, or so it looked. "Mommy said we'd go out for ice cream afterward."

"What about you, Will?" This was risky, the elder Brown knew. After all, his grandson hadn't looked at him since he'd arrived, and he'd hardly spoken to anyone.

When Will didn't respond, Ephram tried to help. The silence reminded him painfully of what he himself was like as a teenager.

"I reserved balcony seats for everyone this time, it should be a perfect view." Ephram said, hoping to break the ice.

"That's great!" Nina exclaimed, sensing the fight that was brewing. "I'll be we could even sneak the video camera in this time."

"That's a good idea, Nina." Delia commented. "David bought a one of those new digital ones before he left. It's really small, the ushers would probably never notice that we had it."

Amy joined in as well. "That's perfect, Delia. One of us can record the concert from the balcony."

"The only thing is, Dave's the only one who know how to work it. I'm not even sure how to turn it on."

An idea struck Andy. "Will's good at that type of stuff, he'd probably be able to figure it out. What do you say, Will?"

That was it, the sixteen-year-old's boiling point had been reached, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the explosion.

"I'm not going to the damn concert!" He stood, intending to walk away, but Ephram grabbed his shoulder.

"Will, there's no reason to talk to your grandfather like that. He was only trying to-"

But he jerked away from his father's grasp, cutting him off. "He was only trying to what? Stop beating around the damn bush and pretending like nothing ever happened here. You're all a bunch of liars, and you know it!"

"Will, I know that you feel betrayed right now, and I'm sorry, but we can talk about this." Andy said, almost pleadingly.

"Go to hell, Grandpa! How can you think that after what you did to me, after you almost destroyed my whole life, that I would want to talk to you? I don't even want to look at you!"

He slammed his hands on the table, causing a glass of water to tip over and splash all over Juliana, while Eva began to cry at the unusually cruel sound of her older brother's voice.

Delia pulled the baby out of the highchair, trying to soothe her as she started to cry along with Eva.

Nina, feeling it would probably better to leave the three brown men and Amy alone, took Eva by the hand and, with a promise of chocolate chip cookies, followed Delia into the kitchen.

After Nina and Delia had left the room, Amy spoke cautiously.

"We never meant for it to turn out this way. Your Grandfather loves you, we all do."

"Is that what you do when you love someone, lie to them? Funny, that seems a little backwards to me." He replied coldly.

"Listen to your Mom, Will." Andy encouraged. "She's right."

"That woman isn't my Mother!" He roared, pointing to Amy. "She has no son." With that he stormed out the front door, not looking back.

"He's wrong, he is my son." Amy said after he'd gone, to no one impeticular. For, what only she and Ephram knew, was that there was a time when she thought a bit differently.

* * *

She sat on the bed staring blankly, possibly with more wisdom than someone only twenty-eight years of age should have. After a few moments, she stood and carefully lifted the metal box from the highest shelf of the closet she and Ephram shared. 

The locked would open only by combination, which only she and Ephram knew the numbers to. She opened it slowly, as if it were pandora's box, filled with secrets and meant to be left alone. She sorted through the papers, some of which were over sixteen years old. The first one she came to was a bitheavier than normal printing paper, and as Amy's eyes swept over the beautiful typed script, she realized what it was:

_Dr. and Mrs. Harold B. Abbott., Jr._

_request the honor of your presence_

_at the wedding of their daughter_

_Amy Nicole _

_to_

_Ephram Andrew Brown_

_Son of Dr. Andrew Brown_

_Saturday the twenty-sixth of November _

_Two Thousand and Six _

_At Two O'clock_

_Everwood Roman Catholic Church_

_Please R.S.V.P. by October 21st. (827)-555-8965_

The next paper she came to was one she didn't even know was there, having always thought that Ephram would have thrown it was years ago.

_Certificate of Birth_

_Mother's Name: Kellner, Madison_

_Father's Name: Father Unknown _

_Date of Birth: February 12th 2005 _

_Place of Birth: Denver, Colorado _

_Child's Name: Baby Boy, Kellner _

_Gender: Male_

Amy knew that the paper attached to that was Will's revised birth certificate, which had been filled out by the judge when Ephram got custody.

"Amy?" She turned, hearing Ephram call her name. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just making sure I put everthing away." A bit shakily, she relocked the metal box and placed it back on the closet shelf.

"You don't look fine." He commented as she sat back down on the bed. "I'm sorry about this, Amy."

"It's not your fault, Ephram. It's not anyone's fault." A tear slowly fell from her eye, but she wiped it away before he could notice it.

"I know how you're feeling, Amy. I'm hurting, too." He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the sadness she was generating. "But you never know what could happen, doctors can't be right all the time."

"They're right, Ephram. You know they are." She was emotionless now, and there was nothing left for her to do.

The shock of their lives had come to Amy and Ephram that day. Amy had been diagnosed with Linder's syndrome, a condition effecting female hormone balance which would prevent her from ever having children again. It had been totally unexpected; Amy had gone to Dr. Brown hoping only to get a prescription for a migraine. It only became more painful when she found out that only one out of every 600 caucasian women would be diagnosed with Linder's syndrome before age forty-five.

"I always wanted a little boy." The dancer said suddenly, turning to face her husband. "Did I ever tell you how I kept hoping Eva would be a boy?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think you did." Taking his hand, he pushed her bangs out of her face as she talked.

"I even had a name picked out." I few more tears slid down her face, but she kept speaking. "It was 'Julian Edward', after your Mom and my Grandmother."

He wasn't surprised at this, since they had discussed naming their daughter 'Julia', but in the end, Ephram couldn't do it for the simple reason that the name had too many memories tied to it. Even after eighteen years, it was still too painful for him.

"We'll never have him now, Ephram. I'll only have one child for the rest of my life." She began to sob now, and he could do nothing but hold her.

Even though he was thinking about it, he didn't mention Will, despite the fact the he was, legally, Amy's son. She was talking about an entirely different issue. He pondered it further as she cried; They could always adopt, plenty of kids needed good homes. When he said as much to Amy, however, she told him it would be impossible for her to adopt a child. How was she to choose one or two children from a whole world full of orphans?

They sat together in their room for another half an hour, Amy aimlessly looking through papers in the metal box once again, and Ephram trying to comfort her in whatever way he could. He realized then that both Eva and Will were due to be picked up from a day spent at the Abbott's house.

"I wish there was some way we could fix this." He said as he rose from his position on the bed.

She looked up from the papers, seemingly oblivious to any time having passed at all. "I have a son."

Looking a bit confused, he stood behind her while she explained the realization she'd come to: Will was her son, and he always had been. The entire time she had wanted a little boy that shared her genes, that belonged, biologically to both she and Ephram. She thought of Will as her son, but her feelings for him were different(yet just as strong) compared to those which she had for Eva, because she and Ephram didn't have him together. What she knew now was that, from the second she'd married Ephram, Will had been her son, and she loved him just as much as she did her daughter.

"I do have a little boy, and I don't need this paper to prove it as long as we're together."

He looked down at the paper she had referred to, which came from the metal box, and read the lines he'd seen a thousand times before.

_Certificate of Adoption_

_Adoptive Father's name: None. Remaining with birth father._

_Adoptive Mother's name: Amy N. Abbott-Brown _

_Adoptive child's name: Willingham Kellner Brown _

_Child's date of birth: February 12th, 2005 _

_Place of birth: Denver, Colorado _

_Gender: Male _

_Date of Adoption: December 31st, 2006_

Amy and Ephram had the perfect family, and Amy's sadness and pain about Linder's syndrome left her and never returned. If only, she thought, would do the same.

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	9. Finding What's Lost

AN:The new chapter is up, hope you like it! Sorry about this long wait for an update, I've been busy.

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_One ring, two rings, three, four,..._

"Hello?"

"Yes, is Madison there? My name is Ephram Brown, I'm an, uh, an old friend of her's."

"Speaking."

"Madison? Sorry, I didn't recognize you. Anyway, I-I needed to tell with you something."

"Ephram... I didn't expect you to call, I mean, I was just heading out to work. I didn't even know you had my number."

"I don't. The white pages and I go way back, though."

She laughed nervously, same old Ephram. Yet she knew that there was an edge to his voice, possibly put there by stress, or maybe he was still hurt was their last meeting at the coffee shop in New York city. She couldn't blame him if he was, nor could she understand why he was talkiing to her in such a civil manner.

"I wanted to tell you that I've decided I want custody of the baby."

Stone scilence.

"I'm going to take a paterinty test next week, and then, from what the lawyer says, I should be free and clear as far as the hearing goes; I thought you should know."

It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. He wanted custody? She'd never in a million years dreamed that he'd want to raise their son by himself. He was barely even eighteen years old, for god's sake!

She took a deep breath, which sounded more to Ephram like a desperate gasp for air.

"Ephram, I told you, a couple from Califorinia, they adpoted him. He has a good family and people to take care of him. Why do you want to do this?"

"He has someone to take care of him in Everwood, too." He replied, his voice hardening with every word. "He has me. But I guess you never thought of that, seeing as you put on the adoption papers that you didn't know who I _was_!"

"You have you understand, I wanted him to have a normal life!" She was crying now, and Ephram didn't need to see her face to know that. "Can you at least forgive me?"

"I don't know." He told her truthfully."There's a lot to forgive. Besides, you shouldn't be asking _me_, wait fifteen or sixteen years, then ask _him_."

Her final comment came in a strained voice. "Good luck, Ephram."

"Yeah, thanks." He said, half-heartedly, then slammed down the reciver, in what would be the end of his final conversation with Madison Keller, for, after that, he made no effort to contact her again.

* * *

He'd been driving Everwood's streets for almost an hour, now, trying to find his distraught son. Turning the steering wheel to the right, down Elmton Road, he scanned the sidewalks for Will, who was nowhere in sight as far as he could tell. 

After the argument that took place at his father's house two hours prior, Ephram decided it would be best to the teen cool off for a while, lest he cause another eruption by forcing Will to return home while he was still angry.

As 7:00 approached, Amy began to worry that it was getting dark, and so Ephram climbed into his SUV in search of his very enraged sixteen-year-old son.

Another right turn, this time down Berrymore Drive. Will couldn't have gotten this far on foot, he was sure. However, as he finished the thought, he spotted the back of a sandy-blonde head moving foward on the sidewalk about fifteen feet away from him.

"It's kind of hard to get closer to home when you heading in the opposite direction, isn't it?" Ephram stated, pulling up beside his son.

Obviously a bit startled by his father's sudden appearence, Will only turned slighty with his answer. "You mean I'm still in Colorado? I guess I must've taken a wrong turn somewhere."

"I can see that." With that,Ephram stopped the car and opened the passenger side door. "Get in. Amy's completely out of her mind thinking of all the things that could have happened to you."

Will paused for a moment, and then climbed, regretfully, into the car.

They drove in scilence for the next five minutes, and only as they passed Sam's, formerly known as Mama Joy's, did Ephram speak.

"Do you wanna stop and get a burger to go? You must be pretty hungry, you left before we even had the salad."

Will shook his head without replying, and his father knew better than to push the subject.

When they pulled into the driveway of the Brown home, Will stepped out of the car reluctantly, and slowly followed Ephram toward the house.

"Amy?" The older of the two called as he opened the front door. "I'm home; I found him."

"Thank god!" Will heard Amy Brown's voice from the kitchen, followed by her hurried footsteps toward them.

She looked a wrek, the elegant twist that her hair had been arranged in earlier was now nothing more than a lump on her head, and big chuncks of her hair were falling out of the clasp. Her make-up was running in several different directions down her face, andhe knew she'd been crying.

Amy said nothing when she saw her son, nor did she make any move to embrace him. She simply smiled, as if this was any other day and he was returning home from school.

"I want to talk to both of you."

Amy and Ephram glanced at each other in disbelief, they'd expected the teenager to lock himself in his room, yell at them, or even try to leave the house, but they never would've thought he'd actually want to speak with them after the events that had occured over the past three days.

Both adults nodded and moved to the living room where they sat on the love seat together, Will took the chair opposite them and waited a moment before speaking.

"I'm sorry for what happened at dinner, and I'm sorry for what I said to both of you and to Grandpa. I was really angry, and I sort of still am, I guess. There was a lot of stuff I was thinking about when I was walking around, and I know what I need to say now."

the tick of the clock on the mantle seemed to grow louder as the young man took a breath and continued.

"It's gonna take a while for me to get my head around everything, and to understand it. What I mean is, I want to forgive both of you, but I have to process everything first, and I don't know how long that's gonna take.My point is,I want you to know that I'm grateful for what you guys sacrificed a lot to make my life come out okay, and I have to thank you for that."

He'd said his peice, and he wanted their reaction, yet the couple sitting before him was speechles.

"We'd do it again in a second, I hope you know that." Ephram said after a moment.

"We love you, Will, and we're sorry that you had to find you this way." Amy added, but she didn't get up, nor did her husband, sensing that somthing else was looming on the tip of their son's tounge.

They were right. "There's something I need your help with, though. It's the only way that I'm going to be able to get on with my life."

At this point, Amy and Ephram Brown would've done anything to help Will forget about all the pain this situation had caused him.

"What is it?" Epharm asked, nearly afraid of the answer.

"I need to find her. I need to find my birth mother."

* * *


	10. A Step in the Right Direction

Author's Note: I know, It's been a long time since I've updated, but I've had good reasons, I promise. Anyway, here's the new chapter!

* * *

There was nothing Amy could say at that point, because there really wasn't a reason _to_ say anything. Will had just told she and Ephram that he wanted to find Madison, and, honestly, she didn't feel the urge to persuade him otherwise. 

"So, what do you say, will you help me?" Will awaited a response, which Ephram looked in no hurry to give.

"Please, Dad?"

Amy knew what Ephram's answer would be, because she knew him, the very depths of his soul, and she knew that his love for his son wouldn't allow any more room for disappointment.

"Yes." The elder Brown said finally, his voice slightly choked. "Of course we'll help you, just tell us what to do."

Letting out a breath he wasn't even aware that he'd been holding, Will felt, for the first time since finding out about the whole situation, that there was hope.

"Well, you said that you haven't spoken to her since you tried to get custody of me, right?"

Ephram nodded. "Yeah. I don't even know is she's still in New York or not."

"Could we report her as a missing person or something?" Will asked.

"I don't think she qualifies as missing." Amy interjected, having been silent for the past five minutes. "Just because we haven't seen her, it doesn't mean that no one has. What we need is her contact information."

"Mom's right." Will said, realizing seconds after how good it felt to say that again. "What if we _Google_ her name?"

Ephram smiled, remembering how addicted Amy was to _Google _when they were in high school. "That just might work."

The three of them gathered around Amy's laptop, Will in front of the keyboard, watching as he typed 'Kellner, Madison' into the search field.

A few seconds later, the results were displayed in front of them, and Will painfully read each one aloud.

_1. Get great rates on **Kellner, Madsion** today at..._

That obviously wasn't it.

_2. Jacob J. **Kellner**, the famed English scientist recently discovered..._

Nor was that.

_3. Dov'e la ragazza di la cucina? Lei non bella ma una cucina perfecto. Lei nome e Anna **Madison Kellner**..._

There was only one displayed result left...

_4.Today in California, the up-and-coming band Total Generation was signed to Introcom production by talent agent **Madison Kellner**-Baines..._

Oh, god. That was it. They all knew it. Will clicked on the highlighted link, and the three waited nervously to read the article which followed;

_Today in California, the up-and-coming band Total Generation was signed to Introcom Productions by talent agent Madison Kellner-Baines. Kellner-Baines, who has been a talent scout for Introcom for the past three years, said Friday "We have a lot of confidence in Total Generation's abilities, and we think the audience will love their combination of rock and folk." Kellner-Baines will be acting as the band's New York agent until they can find a more permanent formof representation. The band's first album, In Excellence, should be debuting this fall, and is expected to..._

"Kellner-Baines? I guess she's married." Will commented, looking at the computer screen solemnly.

"But, from what the article said, it looks like she's still living in New York." Amy said, trying to sound cheerful, but she was still obviously worried about what was to come.

"Let's try putting her name into the white pages search box." Ephram suggested, gripping the back of Will's chair.

Will did so, and as they waited for the browser to react, Eva came into the room, her eyes heavy with sleep.

"Mommy, aren't you coming to say good night?"

Amy's heart nearly broke. With all the confusion, she'd forgotten to put Eva to bed!

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Come on, I'll tuck you in." As they turned to leave, Ephram sopke.

"No, Amy, I'll do it. Besides, it's been a while since I've read you a story, right Eva?"

"Yeah." The little girl said sleepily. "Let's read the one about the detective girls."

"Sounds good to me." Ephram replied, knowing the Eva was likely to fall asleep before he even opened the book.

The father and daughter left the room, and the wait for Madison's possible address continued.

I wish the damn browser wasn't so slow... Will thought to himself.

Amy saw it first. There it was, the key to her son's real mother.

_**Baines**, Matthew J. and **Madison Kellner**_

_26 Front Street. Trill Square,_

_Manhattan, New York_

It was painful for Amy, very painful. But then again, she wasn't the first one to have ever experienced pain, was she? No, of course not.

* * *

"Amy?" 

"Delia? What are you still doing up?"

A nearly fourteen-year-old Delia Brown stood in the doorframe to the garage, where Ephram and Amy were still living with sixteen-month-old Will.

The younger girl ignored the question and moved to sit on the bed next to her sister-in-law.

"Are you okay, Delia? Do you want to talk?"

Something in the look on the youngest Brown's face told Amy that there was a reason that she was still awake. She needed something. Maybe not from her, but from Ephram.

"No, It's okay." But, no, it really wasn't. "I guess Ephram's still not home, huh?"

She and Ephram were finally financially stable enough to move to their own apartment. The place they'd found was a small one-bedroom studio with a laundry room that could be used as Will's nursery once they fixed it up a bit. It wasn't much, but it was good enough, even though Ephram's relationship with his father had bettered significantly in past months,

"No, he has a few things to go over with the landlady before tomorrow, and then he and Bright were going to take some of our furniture over to the apartment. Do you want me to call his cell phone, I'm sure he's got a minute if you..."

"No." Delia said. Then, realizing the tone of her voice, she corrected herself. "I mean, It's not that important. I can talk to him some other time."

"Okay, if you say so." But Delia didn't look like she really wanted to go back up to her room. So, against her better judgement, Amy invited her to stay.

"I'm trying to decide what color to paint Will's room in the apartment, do you want to help?"

Looking at the book with the color samples, the younger girl seemed almost relieved. "Sure. As long as you promise not to tell my Dad that I was up late."

"I won't, don't worry." Smiling for the simple reason that she thought it would somehow help,the blondeput the book of wallpaper and paint samples between them on the bed.

"Now, I personally like the light blue paint with the duck wallpaper, but your brother thinks that ducks aren't masculine enough for a boy. He wants the denim blue paint with the navy blue gingham wallpaper. What do you say?"

"What about this one?" Delia had been flipping pages in the sample book as Amy spoke. She'd stopped on a page in the hobby themed section of the book, which was really meant more for an older child. But Amy's heart melted when she saw what her sister-in-law was pointing to.

A dark blue painted background, with wallpaper that featured tiny baby grand pianos scattered thought its white base.

"Delia, I . . . " She was speechless. "Ephram would love this. I didn't even think about it."

"Do you think so? I'm not sure, he hasn't played much since, well since Madison . . . " Delia began, but she wasn't able to finish the sentence. After all, a part of her was still in shock since she found out about all that had happened between Ephram and Madison. Not to mention the result of which being her nephew.

"I know he hasn't. It kind of stinks, doesn't it? He loves playing so much." Amy said. Even since he'd started giving lessons at the college, Ephram's relationship with the piano was still a little iffy. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't think he deserved the joy he got from music after all that had happened.

"Yeah. I remember when Mom died. He used to play all day. It sounded like the Phantom of the Opera was living with us." Delia said.

Amy laughed slightly, remembering Ephram's 'I hate the world' image their sophomore year.

"I'd say we've got a ninety-five percent chance of the piano wallpaper. What do you think?"

"I think he'll be happy as long as there aren't any ducks." "Maybe we should tell him that we think the pink wallpaper with the white frills is the only one we can afford." Amy joked. "I'd love to see his face."

But when Amy looked over, Delia wasn't laughing.

"I wish you guys weren't moving." She admitted.

"You're gonna miss Ephram, I understand." Amy soothed, putting her hand on Delia's shoulder.

"That's not just it. Ephram's not a kid anymore. He's a father, and he's married to you, and now he won't even be living here anymore. I'm afraid I'll never see him again." Delia continued, tears forming in her brown eyes.

"Delia, listen. I know that all of this happened fast, I feel that way too. But I promise, Ephram will still be your brother. He's not leaving forever. He'd never leave you forever. He loves you too much for that." By that point, Amy had pulled Delia into a hug, hoping that Dr. Brown wouldn't hear her sobbing and think something was wrong.

"I hate Madison, this is all her fault." The brunette said in anger. "I she would've just told Ephram she was pregnant, you guys wouldn't have had to get married and Ephram wouldn't have gone to Europe and he wouldn't have been mad at Dad for so long."

Amy was in the same boat. These were thoughts that she herself had once had, and she knew that ever since Delia had been given all the details about Ephram's situation that something like this was probably going through her head.

"Sweetie, please, don't worry about all that stuff now. I know that it changed a lot of things in your life, but it all got better, too, didn't it?"

"I wanted to marry Ephram because I love him and I would do anything for him. I promise, It had nothing to do with Madison. Ephram's back from Europe and now he's here with us and he's staying here. And as for your Dad and your brother, they'll fix things, they just need some time. Look at how far they've some in the past few months. It's all going to keep getting better, Delia, I promise."

"It's still Madison's fault, though." Delia maintained.

"I know that Madison's not exactly your favorite person right now, but she had to make a really hard decision, and at the time there really wasn't anything else for her to do. She made a mistake by not telling Ephram about the baby, but now she has to live with that for the rest of her life. Feeling betrayed is normal, because I know how much you liked her, but hating her forever isn't going to fix anything, either. We all just have to try and forgive her."

"Thanks, Amy."

"Any time."

It was impossible for Delia to just automatically forgive her ex-babysitter, but she'd learn to deal with her feelings in time.

"Now that we've both been crying like we just saw Ralph Macchio die at the end of _The Outsiders_, I think I can make you a deal." Amy said, handing Delia a tissue from the box on the night stand.

Not quite understanding Amy's movie reference, Delia looked intrigued. "Let's hear it."

"What if I promise that you can comefor aquality time visit with us overnight for one weekend out of every month, anyweekend that you want?"

Delia smiled immediately. "Okay, but only if I get to play with Will."

"No problem." Amy replied.

As if on cue, Will could be heard crying from behind the wall that separated the garage into two bedrooms and a small living room.

"He knows we're talking about him." Amy commented, getting off the bed to tend to her son.

Amy had experienced the same feelings that Delia was struggling with right now, and even though it wouldn't be easy for her to forgive and forget, it was at least a step in the right direction.

* * *

Yes! Chapter ten, let's hear it for me! Okay, enough of the less-than-professional ranting. Review! P.S., Does anyone else think that Reid and Amy have absolutely no chemistry together? Yuck! 

-Tessie:)

"Amy?"Yes! Chapter ten, let's hear it for me! Okay, enough of the less-than-professional ranting. Review! P.S., Does anyone else think that Reid and Amy have absolutely no chemistry together? Yuck! 


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